Air conditioner beat by heat

We all know that bad things come in three, so nothing can go wrong in my household for a while.

My camera part of my livelihood stopped working. My vacuum cleaner, which is needed on a daily basis, broke. And my home's air conditioner stopped blowing air the night before the July 4 holiday.

Things could be much worse, I admit, especially since everything is fixable.

But try telling that to a two-year-old who complains that she is hot. Or my dogs, who generated enough heat-induced slobber to mop the kitchen floor. Or me, who doesn't take extreme hot or extreme cold very well.

When it's more than 90 degrees in your house, air conditioning seems like much more than something taken for granted. It's life support.

It would be asking too much for something simple be wrong with the air conditioner such as a need for freon, or a blower. Nope, the repair man said the furnace needs to be replaced for the air conditioner to work. That makes sense.

Obviously, the air conditioner wasn't going to operational within a day or two, so we bought a window air conditioner. We put it in our family room, where my family will be living until further notice.

By the way, my camera was fixed in very much the same way I fixed what turned out to be a broken lens by buying a new one.

**

I have half a month to prepare for Emily's second birthday party. I don't know if it's the procrastinator or journalist in me, but I am motivated by short deadlines.

The grandparents have been asking for details for months.

"There's going to be cake, there's going to be presents and everything will be decorated with Elmo," I told them.

They want to know when, where, if they need to bring food, and what Emily wants for her birthday.